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Two-year delay hits major European neutron source

Physics World January 2022

Physics World

 
News & Analysis Physics World  January 2022

Two-year delay hits major European neutron source

Waiting game The European Spallation source in Lund, Sweden, will now not open to users until 2027. (Courtesy: Perry Nordeng/ESS)

The 1.8m European Spallation Source (ESS) will be delayed by two years as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and “technical issues” that have set back the construction effort. The neutron source, which is currently being built in Lund, Sweden, was scheduled to open to users in 2025 but at the December meeting of the facility’s council it was agreed that should be pushed back to 2027. 

First mooted in the early 2000s, the ESS will include a 600 m underground linear proton accelerator, which will initially create a beam of protons with a power of 2 MW, with further upgrades planned at a later date to reach 5 MW. These protons will be sent to a heavy-metal target station to produce neutrons, which will in turn travel to 15 instruments where researchers will use them to investigate a range of materials from superconductors to proteins. The ESS will also feature sample-preparation labs as well as a supercomputing and software development centre.

Last year, officials undertook a reassessment of the ESS’s schedule and budget. While the civil construction of the ESS was, as Physics World went to press, to be finished by the end of 2021, other aspects of the ESS’s build have hit setbacks and entailed extra costs, such as delays to the delivery and installation of components. Yet the council reiterated that the “construction scope” of the ESS remains unchanged and the facility will, as originally planned, open with 15 scientific instruments, with space for a further seven. 

“We have worked hard to develop a new realistic project baseline, in close collaboration with our in-kind partners all over Europe,” says ESS director-general Helmut Schober. “We have strong confidence in our ability to deliver a world-leading research facility based on the new plan and will take all necessary measures to succeed.” 

The delays will add an additional 550m to building the facility, including 400m during operations for 2026–2027, which will have to be met by ESS partner countries. “ESS Council is impressed by the efforts undertaken by all involved to establish this robust and resilient project plan, and convinced that ESS will be brought to completion accordingly,” says ESS council chair Beatrix Vierkorn-Rudolph. “Council is working with the member states to provide funding of the additional costs.”

Michael Banks